Bottom Line:
This fact sheet is for men who are thinking about having high intensity focused
ultrasound (HIFU) to treat their prostate cancer.
Publication details:
It describes how
prostate cancer is treated using high frequency ultrasound waves to heat and destroy
cancer cells. Each hospital and specialist team will do things slightly differently so use
this fact sheet as a general guide to what to expect and ask your specialist team for
more details about the treatment you will have.
We assessed this page using an appraisal instrument developed by Minervation specifically for this project. This approach is still in development, so you should regard the assessments as a general guide. Click here to find out more, or to let us know how you think the approach could be improved.
Reliability comments:
- The page has been reviewed by a team of experts.
- The page was last updated in July 2009.
- The page cites some relevant sources.
- It is clear who has developed this website.
- More details on how content is produced would be welcome.
Usability comments:
- PDF format.
- There may be a few minor problems with meeting web Accessibility standards
- Information is clearly signposted for browsing.
- The Google-powered search engine is somewhat limited.
Scoring
Reliability
| Item |
Score |
| Is it clear who has developed the web site and what their objectives are? |
3 |
| The charity's logo appears on the homepage and there is a detailed About Us section. |
| Does the site report a robust quality control procedure? |
2 |
| The site policy lacks detail on how content is researched and produced. |
| Is the page content checked by an expert? |
3 |
| The page has been reviewed by a team of experts. |
| Is the page updated regularly? |
2 |
| The page was last updated in July 2009. |
| Does the page cite relevant sources where appropriate? |
2 |
| The page cites some relevant sources. |
Usability
| Item |
Score |
| Is the site accessible without a login? |
3 |
| No registration required. |
| Does the site conform to web Accessibility standards? |
2 |
| Lida score 83% |
| Is the site design clear and transparent? |
3 |
| The site is clearly laid out and it users can tell where to go to find what they need. |
| Is the site design consistent from one page to another? |
2 |
| Yes, site design is consistent, though there are inconsistencies in layout at times and between the titles of pages |
| Can users find what they need on the site? |
2 |
| The lack of meaningful page Title tags means that the Search engine cannot display effective links. |
| Is the format of information clear and appropriate for the audience? |
3 |
| The format is clear, PDF format. |
| Weighted total (Usability + (Reliability x 2)): |
39 |
We score each question out of three where:
| 0 |
= Never or Can't tell |
| 1 |
= Sometimes or partly |
| 2 |
= Mostly |
| 3 |
= Always |
|
High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)
